Luis Alvarez - A Profile of the Famous Scientist

Name: Luis Alvarez Born/Died: 1911-1988 Nationality: American (with antecedents in Spain and Cuba) About Luis Alvarez Luis Alvarez is a good example of how an amateur can have a profound impact on the world of paleontology. We put the word amateur is in quotation marks because, before he turned his attention to the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, Alvarez was a highly accomplished physicist (in fact, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968 for his discovery of the resonance states of fundamental particles). He was also a lifelong inventor, and was responsible for (among other things) the Synchrotron, one of the first particle accelerators used to probe the ultimate constituents of matter. Alvarez was also involved in the later stages of the Manhattan Project, which yielded the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan at the end of World War II. In paleontology circles, though, Alvarez is best known for his late 1970s investigation (conducted with his geologist son, Walter) into the K/T Extinction, the then-mysterious event 65 million years ago that killed the dinosaurs, as well as their pterosaur and marine reptile cousins.  Alvarezs working  theory, inspired by his discovery  of a clay boundary in Italy separating geologic strata from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras, was that the impact of a large comet or meteor threw up billions of tons of dust, which circled around the globe, blotted out the sun, and caused global temperatures to plunge and  the earth’s vegetation to wither, with the result that first plant-eating and then meat-eating dinosaurs starved and froze to death. Alvarezs theory, published in 1980,  was treated with intense skepticism for a full decade, but was finally accepted by the majority of scientists after scattered iridium deposits in the vicinity of the Chicxulub meteor crater (in present-day Mexico) could be traced to the impact of a large interstellar object. (The  rare element iridium is more common deeper in the earth than on the surface, and could only have been scattered in the patterns detected  by a tremendous astronomical impact.)   Still, the widespread acceptance of this theory  hasnt prevented scientists from pointing to ancillary causes for the extinction of the dinosaurs, the most likely candidate being the volcanic eruptions triggered when the Indian subcontinent slammed into the underside of Asia at the end of the Cretaceous period.

Profile of Camarasaurus

True heavyweights like Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus get all the press, but pound for pound, the most common sauropod of late Jurassic North America was Camarasaurus. This medium-sized plant-eater, which weighed only about 20 tons (compared to near 100 tons for the largest sauropods and titanosaurs), is believed to have roamed the western plains in sizable herds, and its juveniles, aged and ailing were probably a prime source of food for the hungry theropods of its day (the most likely antagonist being Allosaurus). Name: Camarasaurus (Greek for chambered lizard); pronounced cam-AH-rah-SORE-us Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Period: Late Jurassic (150-145 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 60 feet long and 20 tons Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Large, boxy skull; hollow vertebrae; single claw on front feet Paleontologists believe that Camarasaurus subsisted on more challenging fare than its larger sauropod cousins since its teeth were adapted to slicing and shredding especially tough vegetation. Like other plant-eating dinosaurs, Camarasaurus may also have swallowed small stones--called gastroliths--to help grind down food in its massive gut, though direct evidence for this is lacking. (By the way, this dinosaurs name, Greek for chambered lizard, refers not to the stomach of Camarasaurus but to its head, which contained numerous large openings that probably served some kind of cooling function.) Does the unusual prevalence of Camarasaurus specimens (especially in the stretch of the Morrison Formation spanning Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah) mean that this sauropod vastly outnumbered its more famous relatives? Not necessarily: for one thing, just because a given dinosaur happens to persist in the fossil record speaks more about the vagaries of the preservation process than the size of its population. On the other hand, it only makes sense that the western U.S. could support a larger population of medium-sized sauropods, compared to smaller herds of 50- and 75-ton behemoths, so Camarasaurus may well have outnumbered the likes Apatosaurus and Diplodocus. The first fossil specimens of Camarasaurus were discovered in Colorado, in 1877, and quickly purchased by the famous American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope (who was probably afraid that his arch-rival Othniel C. Marsh would beat him to the prize). It was Cope who had the honor of naming Camarasaurus, but that didnt prevent Marsh from bestowing the genus name Morosaurus on some very similar specimens he discovered later (and which turned out to be synonymous with the already-named Camarasaurus, which is why you wont find Morosaurus on any modern lists of dinosaurs). Interestingly, the profusion of Camarasaurus fossils has allowed paleontologists to investigate this dinosaurs pathology--the various diseases, ailments, wounds and contusions that all dinosaurs suffered at one time or another during the Mesozoic Era. For example, one pelvic bone bears evidence of an Allosaurus bite mark (its not known whether or not this individual survived this attack), and another fossil shows possible signs of arthritis (which may or may not, as in human beings, have been an indication that this dinosaur reached old age).

The Terrible Beauty Of Brain Surgery - 1320 Words

â€Å"The Terrible Beauty of Brain Surgery† by Karl Ove Knausgaard in the New York Times, was written from the perspective of a witness in the operating room. The author turns his focus to a British neurosurgeon, named Henry Marsh. The brain is compared to a piece of meat or a landscape in the beginning when the author is considering the brain as a piece of someone, then later it’s introduced as â€Å"their mind, their soul, and their personality.† Brain Surgery is the underlying theme of the article, as Marsh is molded by his experiences to becoming a more reliable surgeon, the patients were controlled by the tumor, and â€Å"the wolf† is the fears that everyone suppresses. Knausgaard starts the article with his arrival in Tirana, Albania after he contacts Mr. Marsh, the term British surgeons prefer. Knausgaard has taken the trip to stand in the procedure known as an awake craniotomy. The patient is conscious and interactive, while the surgeon cuts out most of a brain tumor, in order to indicate how to proceed with cutting without the risk of causing permanent speech or movement damage. Knausgaard points out that Marsh speaks freely about his adventures and surgeries, but not about his personal life or the wolf. Knausgaard questions Marsh s motivations to become a surgeon, touching on a tough subject, Marsh s son who underwent a brain tumor surgery after only months of life. Marsh dismisses Knausgaard quickly by saying, maybe it played a part. But not consciously in that case.Show MoreRelatedTeenagers and Cosmetic Surgery1573 Words   |  6 PagesBeauty is the trend in many societies, and it is highly valued by many teenagers. As a result, teenagers fr om all around the world who are insecure concerning their appearances are more likely to have cosmetic surgery to blend in, to avoid peer harassments, and to stop further inner torments. 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Does God Exist Essay Research Paper Does free essay sample

Does God Exist? Essay, Research Paper Does God Exist? St. Thomas Aquinas has written several of import plants. Some of them are: The Disputed Questions on the Power of God, Exposition of Dionysius on the Divine Names and Disputed Questions on Spiritual Creatures. Most of Aquinas # 8217 ; s plants have been written to seek to turn out the being of God. Aquinas has been a house truster that everything had to hold a Godhead and the lone possible solution would be something called God. It is with this thought that Aquinas # 8217 ; s Third Way was written. In his De aeternitate mundi Contra murmurantes, Aquinas insists that human ground can non turn out the impossibleness of an everlastingly created existence. Once once more Aquinas has written with the certainty that God has to be in order to hold created the existence. There is no uncertainty in Aquinas # 8217 ; s mind that everything was created for a ground and that ground was God # 8217 ; s will. In the text Medieval Philosophy, St. Thomas Aquinas # 8217 ; article entitled Does God Exist? , Aquinas tries to demo the different stairss that can turn out God does be and that the universe had to hold been created by God. This article is comprised of five different ways in which Aquinas tries to turn out that we can be sure that God exists. In the 3rd manner, Aquinas tries to demo that God exists if it is true that we exist. In the article Aquinas says that it is possible for things to be and for them non to be. He means that populating things will one twenty-four hours go non- populating things. Aquinas believes that all things can non be mortal because if it were true, so at some point nil would be. What he means is if all things were populating things, intending that they had to be mortal, so at some clip these things must besides go non-existing. Aquinas says that if everything were mortal, so nil could be bing at present, because what is nonexistent Begins to be merely through something which already exists. This can be translated to intend that if all mortal things have to halt bing so there can # 8217 ; t be anything which exists today. Aquinas believes that it takes a life presence to assist make other unrecorded things in order for them to populate besides. This means that there must hold been something which existed through infinity to assist make living things which exist today. Aquinas believes that something had to hold created life throughout clip in order for things to be populating today. He says this thing must hold existed from the beginning and that it must still be now. His belief is that populating things and inanimate things have lived through infinity with the aid of a higher, more powerful presence. He besides says that if it were true that nil existed at one clip, so it would be impossible for anything to get down to be once more, intending nil could be now, which is evidently false. What he means by this is that it takes a life presence to assist make other living things. It is impossible for anyone to logically believe that things such as stones, trees, and H2O can be without at that place being a Godhead. It is for this ground that Aquinas believes that God was the lone thing that existed so, so hence he must hold been the 1 who created everything. This theory does turn out that something had to be from the beginning. The job I did happen with this theory is that it doesn # 8217 ; t turn out that God exists but that something existed. What I mean by this is Aquinas calls this thing God but he doesn # 8217 ; t turn out that it # 8217 ; s the # 8216 ; God # 8217 ; that people believe to be. Most people would hold that God is something more personal than Aquinas # 8217 ; theory of God. The image of God is interpreted otherwise by many people, although most of these people would hold that God must be all knowing, truthful, honest, loving, patient, forgiving and ageless. The all knowing and loving God is non the same as Aquinas # 8217 ; God because Aquinas merely proved that God was something space. Aquinas # 8217 ; theory does non turn out that God is patient, loving, or forgiving which is what God is believed to intend to most people. The image people have of God doesn # 8217 ; t merely halt at being our Godhead. Another job which I found while reading Aquinas # 8217 ; article is that it doesn # 8217 ; t explicate Darwinian theories. Darwinians base their theory on development. Darwinians believe that God doesn # 8217 ; t exist but that all life things have evolved through nature. The thought of development and germinating from nature agencies that there could non hold been a Godhead but that one molecule started the procedure of development. This theory can # 8217 ; t be really be disputed in Aquinas # 8217 ; 3rd manner because he merely uses the word God to intend Godhead. Darwinians could state that the first molecule could besides be called # 8220 ; God # 8221 ; if people wished, although it wouldn # 8217 ; t be the signifier of God Christians believe in. In both theories, Aquinas # 8217 ; and Darwin # 8217 ; s, infinite arrested development is used. Both of these theories lead to different thoughts of where bing things came from. Aquinas 3rd manner has some little jobs which can be argued by atheists and Orthodox Christians. I agree with what Aquinas had to state in his 3rd manner to be true. I believe that it must be true because all things must hold had a Godhead. While talking to an Anglican curate, I learned that he besides agreed in Aquinas # 8217 ; theory because he was taught that the inquiry would still remain of who created the molecule. The inquiry will ever stay how did God evolve. I can non reply this inquiry but Aquinas # 8217 ; theory has helped me understand the procedure of life things and I is no longer doubt that God is space. Bibliography Aquinas, St. Thomas. # 8220 ; Does God Exist? # 8221 ; In Medieval Philosophy: From St. Augustine to Nicholas of Cusa, 335-38. John F. Wippel, Allan B. Wolter, ed. New York: The Free Press, 1969.